Ye Olde Woodworker

Ye Olde Woodworker If you need something made, repaired, refinished, or restored, just ask. I can also make things in a zero-eco footprint manner.

I'll give you an honest price and if you choose not to use my services, then we part ways with no hard feelings. I am proficient at building with hand tools, reclaimed materials, and low VOC (volatile organic compound) finishes.

Finally made my wife her pine blanket chest for the new farmhouse. Somehow only pine or oak look right in this house.
03/17/2024

Finally made my wife her pine blanket chest for the new farmhouse. Somehow only pine or oak look right in this house.

Been busy with the big move but I thought I'd post some projects I've been working on for the museum. Coal bin, blacksm...
09/07/2022

Been busy with the big move but I thought I'd post some projects I've been working on for the museum. Coal bin, blacksmithing station (for kids), and some kitchen shelving for a working 18th century house. Soon I'll have some pictures of a shaker step-back I've been working on.

These have been a good bit of fun. Japanese tool boxes and a variety of milk or chalk paint. We will be moving in the ...
01/14/2022

These have been a good bit of fun. Japanese tool boxes and a variety of milk or chalk paint. We will be moving in the next few months and these will help with the small tools. They will also look great on a shelf.

Check out this multi-generational family. The Veritas (middle) is a modern router plane. The one on the bottom is tough...
12/14/2021

Check out this multi-generational family. The Veritas (middle) is a modern router plane. The one on the bottom is tough to date but it's a Stanley #71 router plane from roughly the 1920s. The wooden version up top is a recent acquisition given to me by a friend I'm doing some work for. This was her grandfathers plane. Similar planes I've seen are dated anywhere from the 1870s to about 1910.all sharpened up and ready to come out of retirement.

08/03/2021

Over the past couple years something odd has been occurring; I've been sending potential customers to Ikea. People often balk at my prices, saying "I could just go to ikea and save money." Obviously, yes, you could. And I should be able to respond that while they could do that it should be equally obvious that you're getting a vastly inferior product there. That said, their kitchen cabinetry is actually very good.
I think there is a misapprehension that since I have far less overhead that I must work cheaper. The reality is that I don't have million square foot factories dedicated to the mass production of a single product. I don't have million dollar machines working on making 25000 cabinet door frames or drilling shelf pin holes. Every operation, even (especially) when I do use machines requires a near total reset, ie., changing blades, adjusting dado stacks, router bits, setting depth of cut or adjusting fences, sharpening and cleaning tool edges, etc. Plus the building methods I use ensure strength for many years to come.
So, more expensive? Hell, yes. But you will only need to buy the item once. In that respect, my furniture is actually quite a bit cheaper.
I'm not actually here to justify my pricing, though. I want people to have a better understanding of what constitutes good wooden products. If you buy a car you will be inundated with specs, stats, horsepower, airbags, safety ratings, etc. Woodworkers, on the other hand, have historically been very tight lipped about how they build, not wanting others to steal their secrets. As a result, most people don't know what benefit dovetails offer versus rabbets or nails. Most have no clue what a mortise and tenon look like. Rift, flat, plain, or quarter-sawn boards? They are, or should be (I'm looking at you, Ikea), used differently as they have different appearances and strengths. I will try to be more communicative about these things going forward.
I'd also like to start posting some helpful ideas for strengthening flatpack furniture so as to prevent at least some of that junk from going to landfill. So, if anyone has questions about their broken or failing big box furnishings, or about making new purchases stronger I will try to address them. Ikea et al are likely here to stay and their prices attract the best of us, even knowing such purchases are very temporary, so it may be up to us to address this shortcoming.
As a culture, we in the west, and indeed much of the rest of the world have become entirely too used to purchasing products from kitchen appliances to cars, electronics, toys, lighters, pens, tools that are not made to last. They are disposable and so we dispose of them to the detriment of our planet. We have to start being the responsible ones and this is where I resist mindless, thoughtless consumerism.

Been a good couple weeks for vintage tool finds and restorations. A stanley #78 rabbet plane in amazing condition with...
09/20/2020

Been a good couple weeks for vintage tool finds and restorations. A stanley #78 rabbet plane in amazing condition with all its bits and pieces, a hewing axe (gotta be an eight pounder), a single bevel carpenters hatchet, and a beautiful bearded hatchet, which sadly is only a display piece. The metal is too soft for use. Now I'm looking for logs to hew. If you're curious as to why all my handles are burned, it's a Japanese practice called Shu Shugi Ban. It protects the wood very well against rot and moisture, plus it looks great.

Been neglecting this page a bit. Now is a great time to focus on some unrushed, unplugged woodworking. Most of us are ...
04/24/2020

Been neglecting this page a bit. Now is a great time to focus on some unrushed, unplugged woodworking. Most of us are in quarantine, either strict or semi-strict, not at work, and possibly drinking a little more than normal. We need a distraction that doesn't destroy our liver.

Some of you know that I am volunteering at Pickering Museum Village. Quarantine aside, most of my hours have been spent in the Guild Shop. This is a fully equipped workshop with all the machinery a person could ask for. If and when the village reopens to the public I will spend a few hours here and there in the 200+ year old woodshop talking to visitors about woodwork before table saws.

Part of what we're doing involved scouring the locally sourced, often donated, boards that were milled on-site from fallen trees for the various projects we are tasked with building. Well, recently, my mallet (literally) exploded in use and I needed a new one. While sourcing some 5x5 oak for some table legs we, the guild (of 3) decided the last 30" of this chunk of oak was too twisted, gnarled, knotted, unstable, and ugly to be used for anything. Anything except the head of a mallet.

So, with the permission, of our volunteer coordinator I took the chunk of ugly home for a makeover. This is one of a very few pieces I have worked on that hasn't seen machinery since the chainsaw that cut it down. It was milled, dimensioned, and built entirely by hand. The chunk of ugly was enough for 2 mallet heads. The rest was checked, split, or otherwise too rotted for use.

If you look at the chunk-of-ugly pre-worked you can imagine that it would have warped and twisted itself into uselessness in short order. However, as a mallet head such things are less of an issue. A wooden item just over six inches long and roughly 4x3" in cross section can't warp much.

If you have to be stuck at home, here's a great project. I'll post the before and after pics, but I've been considering some instructional videos. If anyone thinks that would be helpful (or just sexy) let me know. I have no editing software but it something I might start doing.

Working on some birdhouses for spring stock. Options seem limitless.
10/14/2019

Working on some birdhouses for spring stock. Options seem limitless.

I don't normally post reviews. Feels like I am pandering for business. But this is the most enthusiastic one I've had ...
08/05/2019

I don't normally post reviews. Feels like I am pandering for business. But this is the most enthusiastic one I've had so I felt I should post.

Solid cherry blanket chest I made for my parents on their 50th anniversary. 13 dovetails per corner, all cut by hand, pl...
07/27/2019

Solid cherry blanket chest I made for my parents on their 50th anniversary. 13 dovetails per corner, all cut by hand, plus the skirt tails. Taking a brief vacation from dovetailing.

Pretty pleased with this. MDF built-in kitchen bench with melamine paint. I hate lid stays, btw. Lovely customer was ...
07/27/2019

Pretty pleased with this. MDF built-in kitchen bench with melamine paint. I hate lid stays, btw. Lovely customer was very pleased with her bench.

A series of carved spoons I have been working on. A serving spoon, 3 condiments/spoons, a coffee spoon, sugar spoon, an...
06/24/2019

A series of carved spoons I have been working on. A serving spoon, 3 condiments/spoons, a coffee spoon, sugar spoon, and a ladle.

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Stirling, ON

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905 621 1050

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